The Chinese smartphone startup has grown at a meteoric rate,
starting from nothing to become the most valuable tech startup in
the world — worth at least $46 billion — in just 5 years. In
2014,
it began its first operations outside of its native China,
announcing launches in India Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the
Philippines.

The company is now making its first foray outside of Asia —
launching in Brazil on July 1.

It will sell its Redmi 2 for 499 Brazilian Real — around $160, or
£102. At the launch, VP of Xiaomi Global Hugo Barra — a Brazilian
native — said: “I am thrilled to finally introduce Xiaomi’s
amazing products to my hometown, Brazil! We already had a very
engaged community of Mi fans in Brazil before our launch today,
and many of them have been eagerly looking forward to getting
their hands on our products. I strongly believe that Redmi 2 will
be a game-changer in the Brazilian market, offering consumers a
quality option never seen before in this price category. And this
is only the start of our journey — as our business in Brazil
grows, we will be bringing in a greater variety of exciting Mi
products.”

It will also manufacture devices in Brazil — helping sidestep the
country's high import tariffs.

This is a significant step for Xiaomi. It's not just that —
as The Financial Times points out — the company is facing a
slowdown in China, and as such is reliant on new expansion for
sustained growth. It is also a crucial test of the company's
business model, which has proved wildly successful so far.

Xiaomi has come so far so quickly because
it was able to fill a crucial gap in the market. In China
(and indeed, across Asia), the smartphone business was heating up
rapidly as millions of new consumers began searching for their
first handset.

Western brands tended to be too pricey for ordinary people in
emerging markets, while in China, knock-offs and fakes
proliferated. (Of course,
Xiaomi has been accused of stealing Apple's designs before.
But the company disputes this, and it's hardly in the same league
as the direct copies.) Xiaomi then arrived on the scene with its
first handset in 2011, boasting that it was faster than the
iPhone — and half the price.

This model — particularly within China and India — has been
extremely successful. (In China, Xiaomi is currently battling
with Apple to be number one.) But it remains an open question
whether the company will be able to replicate this success
further afield, especially in more developed markets.

Xiaomi doesn't plan to expand into Western markets for "a few
years,"
Barra has previously said. For now, it is determined to test
the waters in emerging markets like Brazil, with launches also
planned in Mexico, Russia, and Turkey.

If Xiaomi sees success of its phone in Brazil, it will
provide global vindication of its strategy. And this will bring
it one step closer to the US and other
"tier one" markets — a worrying prospect, given its past
successes, for Apple, Samsung, HTC, and every other smartphone
manufacturer out there.